Mother jailed for alleged plot to topple Tehran government ends hunger strike

A British-Iranian woman jailed for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran has ended a five-day hunger strike amid her family's fears for her health.

Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's health is said to be at "breaking point", her husband Richard Ratcliffe told Amnesty International.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in September following a conviction on unspecified "national security-related" offences following a trial before a Revolutionary Court in the capital Tehran.

The 37-year-old from Hampstead, north-west London, was originally arrested at Tehran Airport on April 3 along with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella.

Amnesty International said Mr Ratcliffe, who has urged Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to meet with him, reported his wife had even penned a suicide note to her family but gave it to her cellmate and has not spoken of it since.

Her family were granted an emergency visit on Friday where they persuaded her to end a hunger strike she began on November 13, the charity said.

They claim she has not received adequate medical care after suffering heart palpitations, blurred visions and pain in her hands, arms and shoulders.

Philip Luther, research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, called for her release.

He said: "The news of the decline in Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's health is deeply alarming.

"Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ordeal has caused her immense despair and suffering. It is shocking that the Iranian authorities are adding to her pain by failing to grant her adequate medical care.

"After her arrest, she was separated from her baby daughter and held in solitary confinement for 45 days. Instead of prolonging her pain and suffering, the Iranian authorities must end her ordeal by releasing her immediately and unconditionally."

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